Gout is a painful kind of arthritis caused by the build-up of uric acid in your blood. Usually, uric acid dissolves and passes out through your kidneys, but when there’s too much of it, it forms crystals that gather in your joints. Anyone who’s had gout will tell you – those crystals get to feeling like shards of glass. Your big toe is a classic place for gout, but any other joint can be attacked too.
It pays to know how to deal with it, and more importantly, how to avoid it. That might not be easy if you have a family history of gout, but you also may be in the risk zone in other ways.
Here are some risk factors for gout:
Excess weight
Everything is harder to fight when you’re overweight, especially inflammation in your joints. The more weight you carry, the bigger and more painful those uric acid crystals feel.
Males in their 40s and 50s
Sorry, guys! Statistically, you are most likely to develop gout. For ways to avoid it, read on.
Diets high in purines
The more foods high in purines you eat – organ meats and salty fish – the more uric acid is made in your blood.
Too much alcohol
Too much alcohol isn’t good anyway, and if you’re likely to develop gout, it’s really bad. It acts as a diuretic, drawing water out of your system and leaving behind the undissolved uric acid.
An enzyme defect
In rare cases, your body may be unable to break down uric acid. Talk to your doctor about this.
Lead in your environment
This is also rare these days, since lead was removed from most paint and all petrol, but if you worked in a mine or a manufacturing environment it’s not impossible.
What you can do to minimise or avoid gout
For a start, make lifestyle changes – lose weight, cut down on alcohol and avoid foods like liver, kidneys, brains and sweetbreads, plus anchovies, herring and mackerel, all which are high in purine.
Here are some other things you can do:
Drink water – lots of it
Eight glasses of water a day helps keep the glass shards away – it dissolves and flushes out those nasty crystals.
Don’t take diuretics
Diuretics remove water, just when you need it! A doctor might prescribe them for your blood pressure, but if you have a family history of gout or you’ve had regular attacks tell your doctor – they may be able to prescribe an alternative.
Do eat the right foods
Some foods can help clear the uric acid from your blood, or reduce its acidic level. Others help your kidneys work better, so read on for more details.
Things you can do when you have an attack
See your doctor
First, visit your doctor to confirm what you’ve got. There are some medications you may be prescribed that will help alleviate the pain.
Sit down and put your foot up
Elevate the affected joint – it could be an elbow, actually – and stay off it. Keep still and let your loved one fetch and carry for you. If you live alone, check into a rest home temporarily, or have carers visit while you’re immobilised.
No hot compresses or bags of ice
Gout doesn’t respond well to extremes of temperature. If you’re applying a remedy like a mustard plaster (see below), make sure it’s at room temperature.
Try natural remedies
Stewed apples, cherries and cherry jam, and teas made from chicory root or thyme can be both delicious and effective. Chicory root also makes a great poultice, as does good old-fashioned mustard. Here’s how:
Mix equal parts of mustard powder and flour with water, to make a thick paste. Coat your gouty joint with petroleum jelly, spread your paste on a strip of cloth and wrap it around the joint. Leave it on overnight, or for several hours in the day.
Anti-inflammatories like willow bark, ginger root and meadowsweet can relieve the pain of gout, as can frankincense, cayenne, feverfew and liquorice. Nothing tastier than a cup of liquorice tea!
These remedies won’t hurt you, they may help a lot, and you don’t have to wait for an attack to try them – they could even help ward off the next one.
Get rid of gout
Even if you have a family history of gout, you don’t need to suffer it yourself. Lose weight, replace your usual tipple with plenty of water, add some natural food remedies to your diet (who doesn’t like cherries?) and you may escape those painful glass shards altogether.